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Corpus Christi Watershed

Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Introduction To “Views From The Choir Loft”

Jeff Ostrowski · December 30, 2012

LEASE allow me to welcome you to “Views from the Choir Loft.” Credit for the clever Blog name belongs to Andrew Motyka, one of the founding contributors. I hope our Blog title is sufficiently descriptive, because I dislike Blogs with excessively enigmatic titles.

I will not attempt to describe the kinds of blog entries our contributors will be creating since I assume this will be obvious to our readers. For myself, however, I anticipate posting two different types of items: (1) reflections on Catholic sacred music & liturgy; (2) short reflections on interesting things I come across. To illustrate number 2, here is an example:

This was found in a very interesting article by Dom Gregory Anthony Murray (“Catholic Action and the Mass”) published in a 1935 edition of Caecilia (Volume 61, No. 10, page 439).

“In the opinion of all save perhaps the actual singers” . . . How true is this statement by Dom Gregory Murray! So often, singers attempt music they ought not to. But there are ways to remedy this, and I hope to write many more articles explaining how this can be fixed. I also hope to continue providing resources on CCW to help fix this problem.

One more example of an “interesting” thing I would pass along would be this statement by Monsignor Francis P. Schmitt:

It may not seem like forty years to some Pittsburghers since Paul Koch succeeded the redoutable Carlo Rossini, but it is. Prior to that he had studied at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Tech. Graduate study took him to Leipzig and Paris, 1936-1939, for work with Gunther Ramin and Marcel Dupre. Not the least of his accomplishments in Leipzig was slipping out of class one not-so-fine day to snap a photo of the Nazis demolishing an heroic statue of Felix Mendelssohn. Taken into custody, he was released only after they found the negative.

This was taken from a 1989 article (“Regalement In Pittsburgh”) in Sacred Music. I will be including a lot more by “Frank Schmitt” (as his friends called him) because he was a good writer with “wit” . . . perhaps too much wit.

P.S.

I will sometimes end my blogs with the following motto, repeated often by a great Church musician:

“Remember: the life of a Church musician is a life of sacrifice.”

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    (Part 2) • Did they simplify this hymn?
    Choirs love to sing the resplendent tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1929, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. Their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Father Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1929 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. As always, the Germans added an organ INTRODUCTION. For the record, I posted a different harmonization a few months ago which was downloaded more than 2,000 times.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF • “Lectionary Comparison Chart”
    Various shell corporations (in an effort to make money selling Sacred Scripture) have tinkered with the LECTIONARY texts in a way that’s shameful. It’s no wonder Catholics in the pews know so few Bible passages by heart. Without authorization, these shell corporations pervert the official texts. Consider the Responsorial Psalm for the 1st Sunday of Advent (Year A). If you download this PDF comparison chart you’ll notice each country randomly omits certain sections. Such tinkering has gone on for 60+ years—and it’s reprehensible.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Monsignor Klaus Gamber Speaks!
    An interesting quotation from the eminent liturgist, Monsignor Klaus Gamber (d. 1989): “According to canon law, a person’s affiliation with a particular liturgical rite is determined by that person’s rite of baptism. Given that the liturgical reforms of Pope Paul VI created a de facto new rite, one could assert that those among the faithful who were baptized according to the traditional Roman rite have the right to continue following that rite; just as priests who were ordained according to the traditional Ordo have the right to exercise the very rite that they were ordained to celebrate.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Today the Church has made a big mistake, turning the clock back 500 years with guitars and popular songs. I don’t like it at all. Gregorian Chant is a vital and important tradition of the Church and to waste this—by having guys mix religious words with profane, Western songs—is hugely grave, hugely grave.”

— Maestro Ennio Morricone (10 Sept 2009)

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  • (Part 2) • Did they simplify this hymn?
  • PDF • “Lectionary Comparison Chart”
  • “Can Choral Music Survive?” • 3 Reasons It Will
  • A Simple Way to Sing and Notate Organum Harmony

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